Bolt from the Blue
Bolt from the Blue was a robot that competed in Series 4 of Robot Wars. It reached the second round of its heat, losing to Firestorm 2 on a Judges' decision after an uneventful battle which saw neither robot inflict any effective attacks on each other. Team captain James Proctor was understood to be displeased with this decision after the battle. Design Bolt from the Blue was a black and silver wedge-shaped robot armed with a pneumatic flipping arm powered by compressed air and capable of lifting half a tonne. The robot was powered by wheelchair motors which gave it a top speed of 10mph and enough power to pull a small truck, which the team claimed Bolt from the Blue achieved several times during testing. It also used mechanical speed controllers instead of electrical ones in order to improve reliability. Bolt from the Blue featured an exceptionally low ground clearance which made it difficult for other robots to flip and push it. However, it had a poor offensive capability, and an extremely limited supply of compressed air for its flipping arm, which only allowed five or six flips per battle according to James Proctor. Qualification At the Series 4 qualifiers, Bolt from the Blue fought Iron Awe. Iron-Awe was suffering from control problems, but won the battle when a blow from their axe immobilised Bolt from the Blue. Bolt from the Blue was given a discretionary place to compete in the series. Robot History Series 4 In its first round battle of the Fourth Wars, newcomers Bolt from the Blue was placed up against Ming 2 and the number 21 seeds Diotoir. In the battle, Ming 2 immediately got in underneath Diotoir and flipped it straight away, before Bolt from the Blue pushed Diotoir over the flame pit, the seeded machine was unable to self-right due to its flipping arm being disabled even before the battle. Ming 2 then tried to push Bolt from the Blue onto the flame pit as well while Diotoir caught fire, but Ming 2 could only steer the newcomers into the arena side wall, at a very low speed. Cease was soon called and Bolt from the Blue was put through to the next round of the heat along with Ming 2. In the second round, Bolt from the Blue had an unfortunate draw as it was placed up against the number 5 seeds Firestorm 2, in arguably one of the most boring battles in Robot Wars history. In this battle, the two competitors spent much of the battle pushing each other around, each being unable to flip the other due to their near-identical designs. The quicker Firestorm 2 machine rammed Bolt from the Blue several times, doing nothing in terms of damage or pushing Bolt from the Blue around at all. Bolt from the Blue eventually lifted up Firestorm 2 when the previous Grand Finalists beached themselves on its wedge, but Firestorm 2 then landed back on its wheels. This used up Bolt from The Blue's fourth and penultimate flip of the fight. The pit of oblivion then opened while Firestorm 2 drove right over Bolt from the Blue's wedge. The battle eventually ended and went to a judges' decision. The decision went against Bolt from the Blue due to its lack of aggression in the battle. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 1 Series Record BFTBteam.jpg|The Blue Army team BFTBinsides.jpg|The insides of Bolt from the Blue Trivia *Bolt from the Blue was one of the six robots to be made as a steel counter for the Robot Wars board game. *Bolt from the Blue was the only robot to have qualified for the main competition that came from Cumbria. *In 2017, James Proctor's wife posted on Reddit to share an image of a Bolt from the Blue cake that she presented to him, which states that he is 'still bitter' about his loss to Firestorm 2. *Bolt from the Blue fought Firestorm 2 again in a Fantasy Fight in the original Robot Wars Magazine, albeit with Tornado present as well. Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from Cumbria Category:Robots to defeat a seed Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 3 Category:Articles in need of images Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots with Rear-hinged Flippers Category:Robots which debuted in Series 4 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 4 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 5